Frank Kulesza: >I give opera lectures to support opera in the bay area 'the bay aria' I >always say men write all the operas and the heroine is usually the only >character aware of what is going on! What I can't understand is why women >do not seem to write operas and what their spin would be? Women do write operas. These operas simply seldom, if ever, get performed. Writing opera is pretty much a thankless job for a composer. Opera companies are generally too frightened to risk commissioning new work. In the US, at any rate, there are too few opera companies to create a decent market. It's hard enough for an established composer. Barber's Antony and Cleopatra waited at least 15 years for a revival. It's still nothing like a staple. Copland's Tender Land waited at least 30 years for a complete recording. Vaughan Williams's Poisoned Kiss has never, as far as I know, had a professional production. Have you ever seen a Prokofiev opera live? I haven't. Add to this the fact that most women composers aren't as visible as most men, and you get a fairly sad situation about the health of American opera life. Steve Schwartz